O-Trap;1858717 wrote: Any of the All-Star quality players would have balled out on that team. Not saying he's not top-3 in the league, but with so many offensive weapons, opponents won't be able to focus exclusively on you or you and just one other teammate. You'll get less defensive attention, just out of necessity.

I thought about this after the first two games when the Cavs got manhandled. What if LBJ were on that team instead of KD? You think the triple-double numbers he averaged for this Finals were impressive? He probably averages 15-20 assists per game with GSW shooters.

BTW there's no guarantee Lebron is here after next year. I could see him leaving to go join the Banana boat crew on some random team to end his career. This becomes even more likely if the Cavs don't win next year.

BR1986FB;1858730 wrote:I thought about this after the first two games when the Cavs got manhandled. What if LBJ were on that team instead of KD? You think the triple-double numbers he averaged for this Finals were impressive? He probably averages 15-20 assists per game with GSW shooters.

This is pretty much how you end the KD > Lebron argument. If the players switch roles, the only difference is the Warriors sweep.

BR1986FB;1858730 wrote:I thought about this after the first two games when the Cavs got manhandled. What if LBJ were on that team instead of KD? You think the triple-double numbers he averaged for this Finals were impressive? He probably averages 15-20 assists per game with GSW shooters.

They would go 98-0 in my opinion assuming the team didn't take games off and rest.

sleeper;1858731 wrote:BTW there's no guarantee Lebron is here after next year. I could see him leaving to go join the Banana boat crew on some random team to end his career. This becomes even more likely if the Cavs don't win next year.

Nothing would shock me, but if Lebron does this he is pretty much giving up on ever winning a title again.

sleeper;1858728 wrote:The bench is always going to be old when you have 3-max players(Love, LBJ, KI) and 4 players making way more than they would on the open market(Shumpert, JR, TT, Frye). There just isn't any salary left over to make any big splashes for young/"Fresh" talent so you rely on 3rd tier rookies and veterans to fill out your roster/bench. Tavares is their best prospect but he won't see any action against GSW either and probably won't see much in the season just because he's not good enough yet for the rotation. I'd seriously look into moving Shumpert/TT/Frye/Love for some better pieces to match up against GSW because the East is going to be won regardless and you need to tool up to win the championship.

Indiana would trade him because he's gone at the end of next year and it's a rare opportunity to lose an all-star and replace him with another all-star(Love). I think this is the most realistic option especially if Indiana has another mediocre season.

I dunno. I think you can get some unproven youth for about what you can get vets with experience. Maybe not Jefferson's league min contract, but certainly Frye's.

If we were the only ones willing to offer a potential All-Star for George, I get it. I just can't see that being the case. Everyone knows his contract is up after this next year, and we can't be the only ones smelling blood.

Any rim protectors out there?

like_that;1858732 wrote:This is pretty much how you end the KD > Lebron argument. If the players switch roles, the only difference is the Warriors sweep.

There's no question that LBJ's still > KD. Anyone who thinks differently is a moron.

O-Trap;1858735 wrote:I dunno. I think you can get some unproven youth for about what you can get vets with experience. Maybe not Jefferson's league min contract, but certainly Frye's.

If we were the only ones willing to offer a potential All-Star for George, I get it. I just can't see that being the case. Everyone knows his contract is up after this next year, and we can't be the only ones smelling blood.

Not everyone has an all-star they are willing to trade for him nor do they have Lebron James or a contending championship level team.

We aren't getting anything useful for Frye's $7M deal nor is Jefferson worth cutting at this point for anyone. The reality is, Griffin is the best GM in the league and he will figure something out and make me look bad....again.

Ironman92;1858736 wrote:Any rim protectors out there?

Tristan and Tavares are the rim protectors for the Cavs. TT disappeared in the Finals and Tavares is more of a prospect for the future and a situational piece in the present. Rim protectors are not why we lost to GSW. We lost because they are able to force the defense to play up which opens up the passing lanes for easy back door cuts and miscommunication on screens. It's not like GSW was driving down the lane each time and getting an easy bucket; they scored in the paint from the previously mentioned scenarios.

Per Donte Whitner....pretty much sums it up.

BR1986FB;1858737 wrote:There's no question that LBJ's still > KD. Anyone who thinks differently is a moron.

Is anyone making this argument?

sleeper;1858741 wrote:Is anyone making this argument?

Yes, hot takes galore.

sleeper;1858741 wrote:Is anyone making this argument?

Like_that said "This is pretty much how you end the KD > Lebron argument" and yes, there are. Not a person who has half a brain. I think Jalen Rose may have been one of them.

I think he has 2, maybe 3, years left of being the best player on the planet before he's going to have to start recreating himself.

sleeper;1858738 wrote:Not everyone has an all-star they are willing to trade for him nor do they have Lebron James or a contending championship level team.

We aren't getting anything useful for Frye's $7M deal nor is Jefferson worth cutting at this point for anyone. The reality is, Griffin is the best GM in the league and he will figure something out and make me look bad....again.

Oh, I agree. They need to get DG signed.

I didn't mean to say I wanted to liquidate the veterans on the bench. It just seems like a balance of youth (unproven youth, since we don't have the financials for anything else) and vets on the bench would give us more versatility. Asking a couple pairs of 36-year-old legs to give us relevant minutes in the NBA seems like a fool's errand.

I know this sounds a little out there ... maybe this can be my hot take ... but I wouldn't mind seeing the Cavs fill a bench spot with Thanasis Antetokounmpo. He was in the D-League last year, and while he's not as good as his brother (or as tall ... like 6'7"), he seems like he'd be a decent bench player, and he's only 24, so he might have fresher legs. Korver and Jefferson were in middle school when he was born. You probably wouldn't have to pay that much for him, either.

sleeper;1858741 wrote:Is anyone making this argument?

Not on here, but Paul Pierce was trying to make it after either Game 2 or Game 3.

I loved seeing Jalen Rose troll him for it after Game 4:

[video=youtube;MjkiI9nbRmI][/video]

O-Trap's right. It was Pierce, not Rose who said KD was better. Does this really surprise anyone though with the dislike that LBJ & Pierce have for each other?

like_that;1858742 wrote:Yes, hot takes galore.

Pretty stupid then. If it's ESPN, it doesn't surprise me because they are all about hot takes and dog shit controversy.

Durant played some of his best basketball of his life and he was still the second best player in the series.

I didn't mean to say I wanted to liquidate the veterans on the bench. It just seems like a balance of youth (unproven youth, since we don't have the financials for anything else) and vets on the bench would give us more versatility. Asking a couple pairs of 36-year-old legs to give us relevant minutes in the NBA seems like a fool's errand.

Unproven youth is FAR more detrimental than tail end vet's. Think about guys like McRae/Felder/Liggins or as I dubbed them "The D-league contingent"; there's a reason they were happily cut from the team for old vets and that's because they have no value. Putting a bunch of youth out there to get clowned on is far worse than putting people who understand their role and can execute a defensive plan in LIMITED minutes.

I know this sounds a little out there ... maybe this can be my hot take ... but I wouldn't mind seeing the Cavs fill a bench spot with Thanasis Antetokounmpo. He was in the D-League last year, and while he's not as good as his brother (or as tall ... like 6'7"), he seems like he'd be a decent bench player, and he's only 24, so he might have fresher legs. Korver and Jefferson were in middle school when he was born. You probably wouldn't have to pay that much for him, either.

There's a reason he is in the D-league. If he had talent worth his salt, he would be signed already.

The only reason Tavares was signed is because he was the best Center in the D-league and the Cavs needed to have a big on the roster. I don't really expect him to play any meaningful minutes on the Cavs ever and will likely only play sparingly if we need a big body out on the court.

http://amicohoops.net/nba-rumors-cleveland-cavaliers-david-griffin-dan-gilbert-lebron-james/

Con_Alma;1858763 wrote:http://amicohoops.net/nba-rumors-cleveland-cavaliers-david-griffin-dan-gilbert-lebron-james/

Never truly thought he would leave, but good to see. That's offseason priority #1.

Speaking of, someone want to start the offseason thread?

sleeper;1858739 wrote:Tristan and Tavares are the rim protectors for the Cavs. TT disappeared in the Finals and Tavares is more of a prospect for the future and a situational piece in the present. Rim protectors are not why we lost to GSW. We lost because they are able to force the defense to play up which opens up the passing lanes for easy back door cuts and miscommunication on screens. It's not like GSW was driving down the lane each time and getting an easy bucket; they scored in the paint from the previously mentioned scenarios.

It was just a simple question. When Love picked up 2 quick fouls TT was having trouble keeping Pachulia off the boards. GS taking long shots and Cavs had trouble rebounding early on. When TT is out there isn't anything protecting the rim/rebounding.

I want Paul George as a big piece....but would like a rim protector as a smaller piece.

Where was Channing Frye? Preferred him over Korver and Shump

BR1986FB;1858740 wrote:Per Donte Whitner....pretty much sums it up.

Yea and they beat them badly

Ironman92;1858766 wrote:It was just a simple question. When Love picked up 2 quick fouls TT was having trouble keeping Pachulia off the boards. GS taking long shots and Cavs had trouble rebounding early on. When TT is out there isn't anything protecting the rim/rebounding.

I want Paul George as a big piece....but would like a rim protector as a smaller piece.

Where was Channing Frye? Preferred him over Korver and Shump

So Pachulia grabs two boards in 1 game and that means we a rim protector? GSW gets offensive boards because they take long shots which increases offensive rebound opportunities. This isn't the 90's and we already have rim protectors.

Frye was too slow to handle the speed of GSW

sleeper;1858779 wrote:Frye was too slow to handle the speed of GSW

He also sucks.